Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I suppose this may come as somewhat of a surprise, but according to a new study by Utica College's Center for Identity Management and Information Protection, technology like printers, mobile phones and computers were used in about half of cases of identity theft - far more than the internet.

AHN News reports on key findingsfrom a number of new studies about identity theft, from who is the typical offender, how much it costs consumers every year, to what technologies are most susceptible to it.

Paul Icamina writes:

According to the study released Monday, identity theft is widespread in the northeastern and southern United States. Most of the offenders were African-Americans, of which more than two-thirds were male.

The average loss from identity theft was just over $31,000, PC World reports. But in one case, the defendant spent millions on luxury vehicles and then managed to set up shell companies and defraud investors at the cost of $13 million.

...

ID thieves victimize people that they did not know rather than friends and relatives which are the victims in 16 percent of cases. One-third of cases involved an inside job with the data being stolen from an employer, according to the study.

PRIVACY REVOLT! tackles the issues at the intersection of civil liberties and technology, with news and commentary on government and corporate surveillance, identity theft, data brokers, tracking devices, and the security of consumers' financial, medical, and phone records.

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